Multimedia distribution is experiencing a shift from old-fashioned analog signals into a digital distribution. In the recently released report titled “Media Networking 2005: The Networked Living Room Becomes a Reality”, InStat cites the following important trend. Total media networking connections in homes will grow from over 50 million in 2005 to over 200 million in 2009, a 29% compound annual growth rate. This shift creates a demand for new products, and new products demand new types of semiconductors that incorporate digital technologies supporting such functions as communications and media rendering.
These statements all point to a continuing shift to digital content. More specifically, these trends also point to the growing need for, and continuing proliferation of, digital content sources, digital content distribution networks and mediums, and digital content rendering devices such as digital music players, smart phones, or other Internet appliances. With the basic concept of content distribution in place, embodiments of this invention detail a method and system whereby content can be rendered in a synchronized manner. When content is distributed to multiple destinations, or when different sources, or types of content, (such as audio and video) are distributed to a destination (node), there is a need to keep the content synchronized. For example, if audio content is distributed to multiple rooms, the streams need to be in sync to create a good listener experience, or a video and audio stream going to the same destination needs to be in sync for the proper output to be seen and heard (for example to preserve lipsync). Even more difficult is the case where the audio content may go to one node and the matching video to another, and where content may come from different sources. In these cases, master network clocks and time stamps are insufficient to accommodate all the timing variations in the system. Therefore there exists a need to have a method and system that allows for synchronized content rendering in a multi-node powerline environment.